Multi-media messaging

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and machine-readable mediums are disclosed for creating multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving a message in a first format, adapting the message to a MMS message, and sending the MMS message to a user device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A variety of technologies exist for communicating with a user. One suchtechnology is multimedia message service (MMS). MMS provides the abilityto communicate messages that include multimedia content, such aspictures or other types of graphics, audio, and streaming video content.Content providers or other applications are able to send MMS messages toa user device by using a Multimedia Messaging Service Center (MMSC) tosend the MMS messages.

In order to send a MMS message using the MMSC, the content provider orapplication must use a scripting language called Synchronized MediaIntegration Language format. This scripting language is unfamiliar tomost content providers and application developers. Thus, it may bedifficult for content and application providers to find developersfamiliar with SMIL. Content and application providers must thereforeeither choose to invest time and money to train developers or to notprovide MMS content and messaging capability.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Methods, systems, and machine-readable mediums are disclosed forcreating multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages. In one embodiment,the method comprises receiving a message in a first format. The messageis adapted to a MMS message. In some embodiments, adapting the messagemay comprise transcoding the message from the first format to aSynchronized Media Integration Language (SMIL) format. The MMS messageis then sent to a user device.

The method may further comprise determining a recipient for the messageand determining a device associated with the recipient. In theseembodiments, sending the MMS message may comprise sending the MMSmessage to the determined device at the associated device identifier.The method may also include determining one or more formats supported bythe device. Adapting the message may include converting files, such as agraphic or audio file, to a format supported by the device.

In another embodiment, a method is disclosed which comprises receiving amessage in an extendable markup language format. The message is adaptedto a SMIL format. Adapting the message includes retrieving one or moreexternal files referenced by the message and packaging the retrievedfiles in the adapted message. The adapted message is then sent to aMultimedia Messaging Service Center for delivery to a user.

In a third embodiment, a method is disclosed which comprises receiving amessage in an extendable markup language format and determining arecipient for the message. A plurality of devices associated with therecipient are also determined. Each of the devices is associated with adevice identifier and a communication type. At least one of the deviceshaving MMS communication capabilities is selected. One or more formatssupported by the selected device(s) is determined. The message isadapted to a MMS message. Adapting the message includes transcoding themessage to a SMIL format and packaging one or more external filesreferenced by the message in the transcoded message. The MMS message isthen sent to the selected device(s) at the associated deviceidentifier(s).

In a fourth embodiment, a message deliver system is disclosed. Themessage delivery system comprises a first communications interface toreceive a message in a first format. The message delivery system alsoincludes an adapter to adapt the message from the first format to an MMSmessage and a second communications interface to send the MMS message toa user device. In some embodiments, the system may also include rulemappings, communicatively coupled with the adapter. The rule mappingsmay map the first format to SMIL and the adapter may use the rulemappings to transcode the message to a SMIL format.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Illustrative embodiments in accordance with the invention areillustrated in the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system upon which amessage delivery system may be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a system that may be usedto deliver MMS messages;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary components of a message delivery system;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for sending MMS messages accordingto one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a second exemplary embodiment ofsending MMS messages; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a second exemplary embodiment of a message deliverysystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, toone skilled in the art that the present invention may be practicedwithout some of these specific details. In other instances, well-knownstructures and devices are shown in block diagram form.

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a computer system 100 upon which amessage delivery system that may be used to generate MMS messages forcontent providers may be implemented. The computer system 100 is showncomprising hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus155. The hardware elements may include one or more central processingunits (CPUs) 105; one or more input devices 110 (e.g., a mouse, akeyboard, etc.); and one or more output devices 115 (e.g., a displaydevice, a printer, etc.). The computer system 100 may also include oneor more storage device 120. By way of example, storage device(s) 120 maybe disk drives, optical storage devices, solid-state storage device suchas a random access memory (“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”),which can be programmable, flash-updateable and/or the like.

The computer system 100 may additionally include a computer-readablestorage media reader 125; a communications system 130 (e.g., a modem, anetwork card (wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device,etc.); and working memory 140, which may include RAM and ROM devices asdescribed above. In some embodiments, the computer system 100 may alsoinclude a processing acceleration unit 135, which can include a DSP, aspecial-purpose processor and/or the like.

The computer-readable storage media reader 125 can further be connectedto a computer-readable storage medium, together (and, optionally, incombination with storage device(s) 120) comprehensively representingremote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storagemedia for temporarily and/or more permanently containingcomputer-readable information. The communications system 130 may permitdata to be exchanged with a network and/or any other computer.

The computer system 100 may also comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within a working memory 140, including anoperating system 145 and/or other code 150, such as an applicationprogram. The application programs may implement a message deliversystem, components of the message deliver system, and/or the methods ofthe invention. It should be appreciate that alternate embodiments of acomputer system 100 may have numerous variations from that describedabove. For example, customized hardware might also be used and/orparticular elements might be implemented in hardware, software(including portable software, such as applets), or both. Further,connection to other computing devices such as network input/outputdevices may be employed.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a system that may be usedto deliver MMS messages. The system 200 includes a plurality of userdevices 206, 208. User devices 206, 208 may belong to the same ordifferent user. Each device may have an associated device address oridentifier and be able to communicate using one or more communicationtypes. For instance, user device 206 may be a cellular phone with anassociated cellular phone number. The cellular phone may be able tocommunicate using communication types, such as MMS, SMS, email, etc.Devices 206, 208 may also be other types of user devices that have theability to communicate with MMS, such as computers and personal digitalassistants (PDAs).

The system includes a message delivery system 200 communicativelycoupled with user devices 206, 208 using a first communicationsinterface. In some embodiments, message delivery system 200 maycommunicate with user devices 206, 208 via one or more access providersto a wireless network, such as a CDMA, GSM, WLAN, or other type ofwireless network. One or more content providers 202 and/or applications204 are also communicatively coupled with message delivery system 200using a second communications interface. By way of example, contentprovider 202 and application 204 may communicate with message deliverysystem 200 over a web interface, such as the Internet. Content provider202 may provide a variety of different types of content to user devices206, 208. Application 204 may provide a variety of different types ofapplication services to other applications. For instances, application204 may be an Internet application that provides the capability to auser to send messages to user devices 206, 208. As will be described infurther detail below, message delivery system 200 may be used to enablecontent providers 202 and applications 204 to send MMS messages to userdevices 206, 208.

FIG. 3 illustrates exemplary components of a message delivery system300. The message delivery system may include an adapter 302 to adaptmessages received in a first format to MMS messages. In someembodiments, messages may be received in an extendable markup languageformat, such as Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML), ExtendedMarkup Language (XML), mobile XML, or any other type of extendablemarkup language. This may provide for the ability of developers toauthor MMS content and application services providing MMS capabilitiesusing a familiar scripting language. It should be appreciated that thismay reduce the cost and time to develop MMS content and applicationswith MMS capabilities. Messages may also be received using other typesof formats.

Message delivery system 300 may include code mappings 304,communicatively coupled with adapter 302, to assist in the adapting ofthe messages. The code mappings may map the first format to a format(e.g., XHTML, XML) that may be used to create MMS messages, such asSMIL. Code mappings 304 may be stored in a variety of differentmechanisms. For instance, code mappings may be Extensible StyleSheetLanguage Transformations (XSLT). Alternately, code mappings may bestored as a relational database that is adapted to store, update, andretrieve data in response to SQL-formatted commands; spreadsheets, textfiles, internal software lists, or other suitable structure.

Adapter 302 may adapt messages received in the first format to MMSmessages using a variety of techniques. As one example, adapter 302 mayinclude a transcoder which transcodes messages from the first format toanother language that may be used to create an MMS message, such asSMIL. Code mappings 304 may be used to assist in the transcodingprocess. As part of the adapting the message, adapter 302 may retrieveexternal files referenced by the message and package the retrieved filesin the transcoded message. Adapter 302 or another component of messagedelivery system 300 may then convert the message in the SMIL format to abinary MMS message for delivery to a user device.

In some embodiments, message delivery system 300 may also comprise adevice determiner 306, communicatively coupled with adapter 302. Devicedeterminer 306 may be used to determine one or more formats supported bya user device. Thus, device determiner 306 is communicatively coupledwith device information 308. Device information 308 may containinformation on user devices. Such information may include formatssupported by a user device that indicate the types of audio, graphic, orother multimedia formats that may be viewed by a device, and/orcommunication capabilities of the device indicating the communicationtypes (e.g., MMS, instant messaging, email, SMS) supported by thedevice. Other information about user devices, such as device addresses,may also be included in device information 308. It should be appreciatedthat any suitable data storage structure may be used to store deviceinformation 308, such as a relational database, spreadsheet, text file,internal software list, XML file, or other data storage structure.

Adapter 302 may communicate with device determiner 306 during theprocess of adapting the message from the first format to the MMS format.This may provide the ability for adapter 302 to adapt messages toformats supported by a user's device. For instance, a user device maysupport Joint Photographics Expert Group (JPEG) format for graphics, butnot a Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format. After obtaining deviceinformation for a user device, adapter 302 may convert unsupportedformat types to a format understandable by the user device.

In the configuration described above, different components weredescribed as being communicatively coupled to other components. Acommunicative coupling is a coupling that allows communication betweenthe components. This coupling may be by means of a bus, cable, network,wireless mechanism, program code call (e.g., modular or procedural call)or other mechanism that allows communication between the components.Thus, it should be appreciated that adapter 302, code mappings 304,device determiner 306, and device information 308 may reside on the sameor different physical devices. Additionally, it should be appreciatedthat in alternate embodiments, the system described in FIG. 3 maycontain additional or fewer components.

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 both describe embodiments in which adapter 302 is acomponent of a message delivery system 300. Thus, the message deliverysystem 302 may be considered a Multimedia Messaging Service Center(MMSC). In alternate embodiments, an adapter may be a standalone systemthat interfaces with a separate MMSC. In these embodiments, the adaptermay be used to transcode messages received in a first format (e.g., XML,XHTML) to a format supported by the MMSC (e.g., SMIL). The adapter mayalso be communicatively coupled with code mappings that map the firstformat to the transcoded format. Optionally, the adapter may also haveor be able to obtain device information which contains formats,communication capabilities, and other device information for userdevices.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary method that may be used to send MMSmessages to user devices. The method may begin by receiving 402 amessage in a first format. For instance, the message may be received inan extendable markup language format, such as XHTML or XML. The messageis then adapted 404 to a MMS message. In some embodiments, the messagemay first be transcoded to an intermediate language, such as SMIL. Thismay be accomplished by using code mappings, such as XSLT, which map thefirst format to SMIL. The message may then be converted to a binaryformat of MMS for delivery to user devices. In alternate embodiments,the message in the intermediate format may be sent to a MMSC fordelivery to a user device. Other techniques may also be used to adapt404 the message in the first format to an MMS message.

In some embodiments, the message in the first format may reference oneor more external files, such as audio, graphic, or streaming videofiles. As part of the adapting 404 the message, these external files maybe obtained and packaged within the MMS message or intermediate formatsupported by an MMSC. After the message is adapted 404 to an MMSmessage, it is sent 406 to a user device. Alternately, in someembodiments, instead of an MMS message being sent 406, a message in anintermediate format, such as SMIL, may be sent to an MMSC for deliveryto a user device.

FIG. 5 illustrates a second exemplary embodiment of sending MMSmessages. The method may begin by receiving 502 a message for arecipient. The message may have been sent by a content provider or anapplication. A content provider or an application may have sent themessage. The received message may be addressed to a recipient. Theaddress may identify a physical address of a device associated with therecipient. In another embodiment, the message may identify the recipientusing an identifier (e.g., a unique username for message delivery system102) that is not an address of a device. Accordingly, the sender of amessage may not need to specify the address of a device that willultimately receive the message. For example, the received message mayspecify send an MMS message to a user without specifying a cellularphone number. Additionally, as will be described in further detailbelow, even when the sender specifies a particular device address, insome cases the message may ultimately be sent to an alternate device oradditional devices.

The method may also include determining 504 an identifier for therecipient. The identifier may be any username that uniquely identifiesthe recipient. For example, the identifier may be an address of any ofthe devices associated with the recipient. Also, the identifier may be auniversal identifier that is not an address for a device of therecipient. The determined identifier may be used to determine 506devices associated with the recipient. For example, if the recipientcommunicates using the communication types of MMS, email, IM, and SMS,the identifier may be linked to device types for those communicationtypes and any addresses that are needed to communicate with therecipient through those communication types. Any number of devices maybe associated with a user depending on the number of devices a user isusing to communicate. The devices may be registered with messagedelivery system by the user or by another entity. When a device isregistered, it may be associated with the user's identifier. Theidentifier may also be linked to other information, such as userpreferences. User preferences may be information for devices that theuser prefers to communicate with and a priority scheme for sendingmessages to the recipient, etc.

The capabilities of the devices associated with the identifier may alsobe determined 508. This may include determining the communicationcapabilities of the devices, including whether MMS is supported. Thedetermining 508 of capabilities may also include determining the formatssupported by a device, such as audio or graphic file formats supportedby the device's Internet browser.

One or more devices are selected 510 to send the message to therecipient. Additionally, the address(es) for the selected device(s) isalso determined. One criteria used to select a device includes whetherthe device capabilities indicate the device supports MMS messages. Ifthere are a plurality of devices associated with the recipient thatsupport MMS messages, the device selection may also include othercriteria, such as user preferences and/or device presence informationindicating whether messages may be currently communicated to the device.

User preferences that may be used to select 510 a device may be staticor dynamic. For example, a user may specify a priority scheme fordetermining devices. The message delivery system may then determine ifit is feasible to send the message to the first device in the user'spreferences. If it is possible, the message is sent to the first deviceand if it is not possible, message delivery system determines if themessage can be sent to the second device in the user's preferences, andso on. Also, if multiple devices are selected, the priority scheme mayindicate that a certain device should be selected. Other userpreferences may indicate that if certain content is found in a message,a certain device should be used. Also, static preferences may bespecified, such as send messages to a first device during work hours andsend message to a second device during other hours.

Device presence information may also be used to select device(s) to sendthe message. For example, presence information may indicate a user isactively using certain devices. For example, a first user device may beactively in communications with a access provider which indicates anactive presence. Thus, the first user device may be the preferred way toreach the user. Hints from the content provider or application may alsobe used to determine the device in which to send the message. Forexample, the content provider or application that sent the message sentmay specify that a specific device should be selected first, ifpossible. Also, hints that override stored preferences may also bespecified.

Returning back to FIG. 5, the method further includes adapting 512 themessage from the first format to an MMS message. As previouslydescribed, the message may be adapted by first transcoding the messageto an intermediate format, such as SMIL and then converting the messagein the SMIL format to a binary MMS format. As part of the adapting,external files referenced by the message may be packaged within themessage. Additionally, the message may be formatted to supported formatsof the device. For example, audio files may be converted to an audioformat supported by the device. As another example, graphics files maybe converted to a graphic format supported by the device. Other types offormatting, such as converting other types of multimedia content,shrinking of graphics to fit within a device display, or deletingunsupported formats, may also be performed as part of the adapting 512the message.

The MMS message is then sent 514 to the selected device(s). Thus,content providers and applications may use a message delivery system tosend MMS messages to user devices. The content providers andapplications may author the messages in a familiar scripting language,such as XML or XHTML, and then rely on the messaging center to adapt themessage to an MMS message. The messaging center may also be used todetermine which device associated with the recipient to send a message.Additionally, the messaging center may be used to convert associatedmultimedia content to formats supported by user devices.

FIG. 6 illustrates a second exemplary embodiment of a message deliverysystem 600. The message delivery system 600 includes a recipientdeterminer 602, a device determiner 606, and an adapter 610. Recipientdeterminer 602 receives a message in a first format, such as anextendable markup language format (e.g., XHTML, XML) and outputs arecipient identifier. Recipient determiner 602 may be communicativelycoupled with recipient identification information 604, which may be usedby recipient determiner 602 to determine the recipient identifier. Therecipient identification information 604 may include information for aplurality of recipients. For example, each recipient may be associatedwith a universal identifier. The universal identifier may also beassociated with the physical addresses of the communication types foreach user. Alternatively, the addresses for a recipient may beassociated with each other instead of using a universal identifier. Whenone of the addresses is encountered, other addresses for the user may bedetermined. Accordingly, recipient determiner 602 may performs thefunctions described in blocks 502 and 504 of FIG. 5.

Device determiner 606 may receive the determined recipient identifierfrom recipient determiner 502 and may select one or more devices inwhich to send the message. In selecting the device, device determiner606 may communicate with a data storage 608 that includes user deviceinformation. User device information may include information forcommunication types for recipient devices. The device information 608may also include other device information, such as the formats supportedby a device and the address associated with a device. Accordingly,device determiner 606 may perform the functions described in step 506,508, and 510 of FIG. 5.

Adapter 610 may receive the selected device(s), device address(es), andformats supported by the device(s) from device determiner 606. Theadapter 610 may then adapt the message from the first format to an MMSmessage. Adapter 610 may use information contained in code mappings 612to assist in the adaptation of the message. Also, the message may beadapted to formats and display capabilities of the selected device(s).Accordingly, adapter 610 may perform the functions described in block512 of FIG. 5.

The message delivery system 600 may then communicate the MMS message tothe selected user device(s). Accordingly, message delivery system 600allows content providers and applications to send MMS messages that mayhave been authored in a familiar scripting language, such as XHTML orXML, to user devices. Additionally, by using message delivery system600, the content providers/applications may not need to know how toreach any devices associated with a recipient in order to send an MMSmessage. Instead, the message delivery system 600 may determine how tobest send the message to the recipient.

Although message delivery systems 200, 300, and 600 were described ascommunicating MMS messages to user device(s) it should be appreciatedthat in some embodiments message delivery systems 200, 300, and 600 mayalso be used to communicate messages in other types of formats, such asSMS, IM, email, etc. Furthermore, in addition to communicating MMSmessages to user devices, message delivery systems 200, 300, and 600 mayalso be used for communications between user devices, and forcommunications from user devices to content providers and applications.

In the foregoing description, for the purposes of illustration, methodswere described in a particular order. It should be,appreciated that inalternate embodiments, the methods may be performed in a different orderthan that described. Additionally, the methods may contain additional orfewer steps than described above. It should also be appreciated that themethods described above may be performed by hardware components or maybe embodied in sequences of machine-executable instructions, which maybe used to cause a machine, such as a general-purpose or special-purposeprocessor or logic circuits programmed with the instructions to performthe methods. These machine-executable instructions may be stored on oneor more machine readable mediums, such as CD-ROMs or other type ofoptical disks, floppy diskettes, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magneticor optical cards, flash memory, or other types of machine-readablemediums suitable for storing electronic instructions. Alternatively, themethods may be performed by a combination of hardware and software.

While illustrative and presently preferred embodiments of the inventionhave been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that theinventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed, andthat the appended claims are intended to be construed to include suchvariations, except as limited by the prior art.

1. A method comprising: receiving a message in a first format; adaptingthe message to a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message; and sendingthe MMS message to a user device.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinadapting the message comprises transcoding the message from the firstformat to a Synchronized Media Integration Language (SMIL) format. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein transcoding the message comprisestranscoding the message using mappings mapping the first format to SMIL.4. The method of claim 3, wherein the mappings comprise ExtensibleStyleSheet Language Transformations (XSLT).
 5. The method of claim 2,wherein adapting the message further comprises converting the message inthe SMIL format to a binary format.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinadapting the message comprises obtaining one or more external filesreferenced by the message and packaging the one or more external fileswithin the MMS message.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining a recipient for the message; determining a device associatedwith the recipient, the device associated with a device identifier; andwherein sending the MMS message comprises sending the MMS message to thedetermined device at the associated device identifier.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, further comprising determining one or more formats supported bythe device.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein adapting the messagecomprises converting a graphic file from a first graphic format to asecond graphic format supported by the device.
 10. The method of claim8, wherein adapting the message comprises converting an audio file froma first audio format to a second audio format supported by the device.11. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the device associatedwith the recipient comprises: determining a plurality of devicesassociated with the recipient; and selecting at least one of theplurality of devices in which to send the MMS message.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein selecting at least one of the plurality of devicescomprises: obtaining communication capabilities for the plurality ofdevices; and determining at least one of the plurality of devices havingMMS communication capabilities.
 13. The method of claim 11, whereinselecting at least one of the plurality of devices further comprisesselecting at least one of the devices having MMS communicationcapabilities based at least in part on device presence information. 14.The method of claim 11, wherein selecting at least one of the pluralityof devices further comprises selecting at least one of the deviceshaving MMS communication capabilities, the selecting based at least inpart on user preferences.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein receivingthe message in the first format comprises receiving the message in anExtensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML) format.
 16. The method ofclaim 1, wherein receiving the message in the first format comprisesreceiving the message in an Extended Markup Language (XML) format.
 17. Amethod comprising: receiving a message in a extendable markup languageformat; adapting the message to a Synchronized Media IntegrationLanguage (SMIL) format, wherein adapting the message includes retrievingone or more external files referenced by the message and packaging theretrieved files in the adapted message; and sending the adapted messageto a Multimedia Messaging Service Center (MMSC) for delivery to a userdevice.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the extendable markuplanguage format is XHTML.
 19. A method comprising: receiving a messagein an extendable markup language format; determining a recipient for themessage; determining a plurality of devices associated with therecipient, each device associated with a device identifier and acommunication type; obtaining communication capabilities for theplurality of devices; selecting at least one of the devices having MMScommunication capabilities; determining one or more formats supported bythe selected at least one device; adapting the message to a multimediamessaging service (MMS) message, wherein the adapting includestranscoding the message to a Synchronized Media Integration Language(SMIL) format and packaging one or more external files referenced by themessage in the transcoded message; sending the MMS message to the atleast one selected device at the associated device identifier.
 20. Amessage delivery system comprising: a first communications interface toreceive a message in a first format; an adapter, to adapt the messagefrom the first format to a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message;and a second communications interface to send the MMS message to a userdevice.
 21. The message delivery system of claim 20, wherein the adapterincludes a tanscoder to transcode the message from the first format to aSynchronized Media Integration Language (SMIL) format.
 22. The messagedelivery system of claim 21, further comprising code mappings,communicatively coupled to the adapter, mapping the first format toSMIL, the transcoder to use the code mappings to transcode the message.23. A system comprising: a first communications interface, to receive amessage in an extendable markup language format; an adapter, totranscode the message to a Synchronized Media Integration Language(SMIL) format, to retrieve one or more external files referenced by themessage, and to package the retrieved files in the transcoded message;and a second communications interface, to send the transcoded message toa Multimedia Messaging Service Center (MMSC).
 24. At least onemachine-readable medium, having stored thereon sequences ofinstructions, which, when executed by a machine cause the machine to:receive a message in a first format; adapt the message to a multimediamessaging service (MMS) message; send the MMS message to a user device.25. At least one machine-readable medium, having stored thereonsequences of instructions, which, when executed by a machine cause themachine to: receive a message in a extendable markup language format;adapt the message to a Synchronized Media Integration Language (SMIL)format, wherein the instructions to adapt the message includesinstructions, which when executed by the machine, cause the machine toretrieve one or more external files referenced by the message andpackage the retrieved files in the message; and send the transcodedmessage to a Multimedia Messaging Service Center (MMSC) for delivery toa user device.
 26. A method comprising the steps of: a step forreceiving a message in a first format; a step for adapting the messageto a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message; and a step for sendingthe MMS message to a user device.